Bersatu sends Dewan Rakyat notices to declare 6 seats vacant

Bersatu has submitted notices to the Dewan Rakyat, seeking speaker Johari Abdul to declare six parliamentary seats held by defectors as vacant.

Bersatu chief whip Ronald Kiandee signed the notices and had them delivered to the speaker’s office earlier today.

“Thus, as per Paragraph 3 in Article 49A of the Federal Constitution, the Dewan Rakyat speaker must ensure an announcement is made on the unexpected vacancies of the seats within 21 days,” he said in a statement.

The six parliamentary seats Bersatu seeks to declare vacant are Jeli, Gua Musang, Bukit Gantang, Kuala Kangsar, Tanjong Karang and Labuan.

They are being held by rogue members of the opposition party, who were recently given the boot for shifting their support to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Bersatu chief whip Ronald Kiandee

“These notices on the unexpected vacancies should be respected, especially because Section 18C of the Societies Act stipulates that any decision made by a political party is final and conclusive.

“In principle, I am confident that Johari will ensure the legislative body stays independent from any partisan political influence, by respecting the supremacy of the Constitution and rule of law.

“Thus, he has no other choice than to declare vacant the six seats and inform the Election Commission so that fresh by-elections can be called,” Ronald added.

Amended party constitution

In March, Bersatu held an extraordinary general meeting where party delegates approved a motion to amend its party constitution, aimed at preventing future “defections” of its elected representatives.

With the amendment to the party constitution, any Bersatu elected representative doing so in the future would trigger the anti-hopping law and automatically cease to be a member of the party.

Bersatu made the move after a slew of its elected representatives went rogue and declared support for the ruling party but maintained that they were still Bersatu members.

The six MPs are Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tanjong Karang), Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang), Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), and Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan).

Azizi is also the Nenggiri assemblyperson. Another Bersatu assemblyperson who had “defected” is Selat Klang assemblyperson Abdul Rashid Asari.

Yesterday, Kelantan speaker Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah announced the vacancy of the Nenggiri state seat and notified the EC. - Mkini